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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5165 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5165

    To prohibit the intimidation of election officials and election 
                                workers.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2024

 Mr. Padilla (for himself, Ms. Butler, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Hirono, Mr. 
 Kaine, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To prohibit the intimidation of election officials and election 
                                workers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom from Intimidation in 
Elections Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING INTIMIDATION OF ELECTION OFFICIALS AND ELECTION 
              WORKERS.

    Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10307) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``section 3(a), 6, 8, 9, 
        10, or 12(e)'' and inserting ``section 3(a), 8, 10, or 12(e)'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e) as 
        subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, 
shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, 
threaten, or coerce any person for exercising any powers or duties to 
administer Federal elections, including vote counting, tabulation, 
canvassing, and election certification, and any of the duties of the 
Election Assistance Commission as set out in section 202 of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20922), or because of the person's 
status, or previous status, as a participant in the administration of 
Federal elections.''.

SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION THAT FIREARMS NEAR ELECTION-RELATED CONDUCT ARE 
              INTIMIDATING.

    Title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 21. ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS CONCERNING INTIMIDATION INVOLVING 
              FIREARMS.

    ``(a) Presumption.--
            ``(1) Voter intimidation.--In any suit to enforce section 
        11(b), a person shall be presumed to have violated such 
        section, in the absence of an affirmative showing to the 
        contrary by a preponderance of the evidence, if such person 
        displays or carries a visible firearm, imitation firearm, or 
        antique firearm while interacting with or observing another 
        person--
                    ``(A) voting or attempting to vote;
                    ``(B) urging or aiding a person voting or 
                attempting to vote; or
                    ``(C) exercising any powers or duties under section 
                3(a), 8, 10, or 12(e).
            ``(2) Intimidation of election officials and election 
        workers.--In any suit to enforce section 11(c), a person shall 
        be presumed to have violated such section, in the absence of an 
        affirmative showing to the contrary by a preponderance of the 
        evidence, if such person displays or carries a visible firearm, 
        imitation firearm, or antique firearm while interacting with or 
        observing another person--
                    ``(A) exercising any powers or duties to administer 
                elections; or
                    ``(B) due to the person's status, or previous 
                status, as a participant in the administration of 
                elections.
    ``(b) Law Enforcement Officer Exception.--Any law enforcement 
officer acting within the scope of the officer's official duties is not 
subject to the presumption in subsection (a), but a court may 
nonetheless consider a law enforcement officer's possession of a 
firearm in determining whether the officer violated subsection (b) or 
(c) of section 11.
    ``(c) Relief.--In a suit to enforce subsection (b) or (c) of 
section 11, a court may grant appropriate relief, including placing 
reasonable temporary limits on the carrying of firearms by defendants.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `antique firearm' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.
            ``(2) The term `firearm' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.
            ``(3) The term `imitation firearm'--
                    ``(A) means an article, object or device, replica, 
                reproduction, or prop gun made or remade to be 
                reasonably capable of being mistaken for a firearm; and
                    ``(B) includes--
                            ``(i) any weapon, article, item, or device 
                        that is in the nature of an air gun, spring gun 
                        or pistol, or other weapon in which the 
                        propelling force is a spring, an elastic band, 
                        carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas or 
                        vapor, or air or compressed air, and that 
                        ejects a bullet or missile smaller than three-
                        eighths of an inch in diameter with sufficient 
                        force to injure a person that is so 
                        substantially similar in coloration, 
                        configuration, and overall appearance to an 
                        existing firearm or weapon as to lead a 
                        reasonable person to perceive that the device 
                        is a firearm or weapon; and
                            ``(ii) any weapon, including a starter gun, 
                        which will or is designed to fire blank 
                        cartridges that is so substantially similar in 
                        coloration, configuration, and overall 
                        appearance to an existing firearm or weapon as 
                        to lead a reasonable person to perceive that 
                        the device is a firearm or weapon.''.
                                 <all>
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